7.31.2008

"I think (marketing is) the career path that will best utilize my networking skills and my ability to think outside the box," said Deenan, whose smug, gloating tone and shit-eating smile just make you want to punch his goddamn teeth in. "So I'm definitely thinking marketing. Either that, or PR."LINK: The Onion

a) It blows your excuse for showing up late to the Conservation Alliance breakfast.b) The curfew breaking Horny Toad party Saturday night at Café Molise.c) The Monaco & Hilton are closer to the Hookah Lounge.

a) At the Dude Scout reunionb) At the World’s Worst PR Event Thursday night.c) At the Aquapac booth (BR 640), where there's a special celebration of 420 everyday at 4:20 pm.

What is ADAPT?

a) What you’ll need to do on Friday morning after attending the World’s Worst PR Event on Thursday.b) What you’ll need to do after telling the guys at Life is Good that you’re a “crappy badminton player" while registering for the Industry Party tourney.c) The acronym for Kelty’s sustainability initiative (booth 27017)

Why is a gusseted crotch important?

a) For selling khakis to guys who wear climbing shoes and Buck Knives to the office.b) It’s not … it’s just an excuse to say ‘crotch’ more oftenc) If you had big balls, you’d know.

a) Grabbing a free demo of a GoMotion specialized running light for a 4 am run (Booth 32560)b) Catching a midday nap in a Kelty campsite recliner while the smooth sounds of the Kelty sales team lulls you to sleep. (Booth 27017)c) Watching a media line presentation at FILL IN THE BLANK ________________.

What is the best use for the Shilo?

a) Hitting the lobby bathroom before hoofing it back to Little America.b) Getting torched on the parking lot deck during Saturday evening’s Mammut bouldering championships.c) Using it as threat, as in: “looks like you’ll be staying at the Shilo next year.”

What is sustainable underwear?

a) 1% for Men’s Panties.b) The Thongservation Alliancec) The four P’s … people, places, profit and poo.d) I have no idea … ask Alli.

7.28.2008

"Felt-soled boots are considered a high risk vector or carrier of microscopic aquatic organisms like didymo. Preventing the spread of didymo is an important aspect of ban, but it is increasingly understood that felt soles are an effective vector for other microscopic pest organisms."LINK: Voxy New ZealandLINK: Protect Your Waters

Sure, there's value in every top shelf item. And sure again, out-zippering your competitors at the same price point is a bona fide way to increase your shelf appeal. But even the prettiest packs can end up being wallflowers.

7.18.2008

I guess the image of Yellowstone illustrating an article about Yosemite should've been a tipoff.

National parks and wilderness areas are finite and fragile resources that cannot handle an annual double-digit increase in attendance in perpetuity.

To assume that fading attendance over time is equivalent to a failure in conservation is not just poor logic ... it's poor taste.

Worse yet, to argue for more luxury hotel rooms as a way to increase outdoor activity participation is laughable. Not only is it of dubious ecological impact, but the chance that putting a soft bed and a flat screen TV within arms reach of El Cap would stimulate a love for the outdoors is like serving up a feast to an overweight man and asking him to begin dieting immediately.

7.11.2008

Things were dead on the Mad River this June. I guess that should've been a tipoff.

The three-piece and I headed out a couple times during what should’ve been easy money affairs. We even spread it out to include some before dawn action. But we didn’t get a thing.

Probably, it's because I suck. But I hate getting skunked, even on a single cast. My kids can always tell when I'm sulking over coffee in the garage.

There was some guilty solace when I asked around at the local bacon counter and found that not even the worm dunkers had been getting anything. “Really quiet out there,” one said. “Weird.”

The Mad River isn’t on the list of America’s blue ribbon fisheries. It’s much loved, but it's a struggling waterway, a put-and-take shadow of the wild fishery that it used to be.

In this ghost town for trout, the tumbleweeds scored another victory yesterday as we learned that Didymo was found in the Mad River. An invasive algae known for rapid proliferation, Didymo has no known cure, and it essentially hangs the closed sign on the door for fishermen.

I know the Mad isn’t the Madison or the Deschutes. It’s barely even a Boulder Creek. But as ANS knocks the legs out from under third world waterways, it’s just a matter of time before it steps on the throat of your own favorite river.

The arrival of ANS in minor waterways is not minor news. It's a wake-up call.

7.10.2008

An old friend of mine (likes to) tell (in some frequency) a specific tale of his youth. About his dad. About how his dad would scold them for being inside on a summer day. And about how they would respond.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"If you're doing nothing, then do it outside."

The world beyond the back porch was, as we all know, a life-changing environment. Young legs became stronger. Young minds became sharper. And eventually, it replaced the indoors as a chosen destination almost entirely.

7.07.2008

So he finds himself on the cusp of another July 4th and all its strange customs: Parades built on the back of cheap petroleum, night skies polluted by the small explosions of fireworks, kegs and coolers brimming with pallid domestic beers, grills stacked high with chickens who never set foot on the soft, brown earth during their short and brutish lives. And somewhere in there, perhaps, for some (and especially after a few PBRs), a swell of patriotism ....